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Ollie was a greater hit than anticipated! He arrived on the evening of December 1st. Unfortunately I was not at the family’s home the evening he arrived to see the excitement 😦 But I did get to hear all about it! He arrived on December 1st in the evening in a box with a letter from Santa.

Mom put the box in the freezer (neat idea I found online) as elf is coming from the north pole after all (the boys are observant and did notice it was cold). Mom put the box on the doorstep and knocked on the door, making it away before the 5-year-old twins could see her. The boys were excited and puzzled to find a box the them and their sister.

The funny part? Dad wasn’t clued in and said “Lets wait until Christmas to open it.” Mom let the boys open it and one of the boys said something about the magic dust, ‘where is it?’ ‘Oh, there it is’ he says as there was glitter that had fallen from a piece of tissue paper (totally not planned). Apparently due to advertising the boys have seen “Elf on a shelf” online, so the other twin said ‘oh, it’s elf on a shelf’

The next morning the boys looked everywhere for elf and couldn’t find him. When they sat down at breakfast they found Ollie hanging from the chandelier, how fun! They were quite amused by this. When they came home that afternoon the boys told me all about elf, as of course I naturally had no idea about what this unexpected visitor was doing at their home 😉

One boys said, ‘He is alive’ ‘Can you believe it, he really is alive.?!’ I read the letter and read them the part about talking to elf or writing to him, one boy went right to writing him a letter. Which by the way, I only know what a few words are and he refuses to tell us what it says.

Here are some pictures of Ollies first week. Hope you enjoy!

For his first day he was hanging around from the chandelier. The boys were so

amused that he had moved from his shelf near the tv. See the note?

Besides the word red (which was asked to be spelled, I have no idea

what this note says!) I even asked and the writer refused to tell

me what it says. I’ll share with you how I remedy this later

Sledding down banister

For this one, one of the twins had Maw Maw get out of bed and get dressed

to come see! He also reminded Paw Paw that Elf must not be touched.

Toilet paper snowman (they were especially amused by the writing on the mirror)

Getting into the Cheerios

He has some on his face 🙂

Reading to Toys

Brushing teeth. The boys thought it was funny he made such a mess!

Sitting in wreath with note (Have a good day at school)

I also found some fun rhymes that can be added easily any day with Elf

Mack is learning what numbers mean and today while putting sunscreen on his face he worried about me getting sunscreen in his eyes (hasn’t happened yet but seriously why are children suddenly so squirrely when you apply sunscreen? Is it the anticipation of going outside to play perhaps?). I let him know I would be careful and that if he held still it would make it easier for me to not get it into his eyes. That’s when he proclaimed “That’s why I love you all the way to 64!” Well, I’m not sure exactly what that means, but his tone of voice and big smile let me know that this meant quite a bit!

The boys have grown so much over the past year. Year, did I just say that? I sure did, can’t believe a year has gone by so quickly! They have grown up so much and continue to amaze me each day.

We had so much fun this week. We made paper bag puppets, checked out some fun books, and gave mom her mother’s day gift. All these will be posts for a later time in more detail but for now I wanted to get some of my thoughts down.

Little one is not so little any more. His favorite word it “no!” and “right now!’ Gentle reminders of ‘more please’ rather than ‘right now!’ are a daily occurrence. He is becoming independent and learning just how powerful words are.

Here is a sneak peek at a puppet we made. Find out what he and his friends are in the next post

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I will admit, it has been a while since my last post. To be honest haven’t felt much like updating. Not that there hasn’t been wonderful things to share and not that I haven’t wanted to share. Have been focusing on my time here, which has been refreshing. There have been plenty of things I could have written about but, kids + project + camera doesn’t always = pictures!

Little did I know when starting finger painting today, what I was getting into (and I mean in a good way!). Never have I enjoyed watching a child exploring finger painting as much as I did today.

I started by getting out the handy orange tray and place mat to ensure an easier cleanup routine when finished. One could use a piece of paper to put the paint on but I used some fun animal plates.

Essential components of this activity:

Paper

Paint

Hands, arms, feet 🙂

I squeezed all 4 colors into a fun animal paper plate(This added in the ease of cleanup).

It took some prompting to get Mack started, once started he was on a roll (pun intended). He was hesitant to get his hands dirty and in the paint. First it was tips of fingers. Slowly, he poked at the different colors giggling as he went and looking to me for reassurance (it was o.k. to do this, right?!).

Having a place mat and the orange tray really eased the cleanup process!

After some time of letting him explore at his comfort level I then delved in and put paint all over my hands and put my hand prints on some paper. He then put his hands in and squealed with delight.

“It’s cold”

“ha, squeal..”

“giggle, giggle”

“can I wash my hands now?”

No sooner had we washed hands he was ready for rounds 2,3, and 4. What a fun memory forever etched into my mind!

What is your favorite memories of fun projects with kids?

Is there a project you prepared that the child’s reaction surprised you?

Is there a fun project you would like to see featured in a post soon?

Interested in hearing your answers in the box below 🙂

Nanny G

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So I spent today enjoying the snow here. Learning to scrape very wet snow off my car and navigating the area. I went to a store that I have said I would rather die than go there again…but you know what?! This particular store that stats with a “W” wasn’t like any of the others I have been in, anywhere! That is a good thing. I truly dislike this store and supporting it, but given the weather and my lack of knowing what stores are and where…I decided this would be worth a shot! Phew…long sentence there…o.k., breathe..given the altitude here..o.k. now I can continue!

I planned some activities for the boys this morning and am so excited to see how they like them tomorrow! Here is a sneak peak at what their activities will have. After purchasing the supplies I was so giddy! Seeing my planning in action was so much fun for me. Thanks to ideas on pinterest, tomorrow will be one fun day. Stay tuned and I will fill you in on the next post!

Can you name all the items I purchased? I will send a postcard to the first person who can name all items. Ready, set, go!